Day 05/30: Abundance
Living in a world with so many temptations, it's easy to forget how blessed you really are. If I stop and think about all of the things I want, dinners out at trendy restaurants, lavish home improvement projects, trips to faraway places, it's easy to get caught up in the idea that we haven't got enough.
It's even easier when you swap out that wish list with a few things that seem more reasonable. For example, we could really use a second car with air conditioning (ahem, Texas). I'd love to have a computer that didn't sputter and shake when running multiple applications(cough, full-time blogger), and it would be awesome if I was going to get maternity leave (well duh, this would be awesome for anyone).
Without much effort I could paint myself a nice picture of destitution.
But then I stop and remember what real poverty looks like. I think of the people who lived in makeshift shacks right outside of our cozy apartment in Beijing. I remember friends having to boil water to take baths because their slumlord landlords wouldn't turn on the heat, even in the dead of Winter. I recall stories of my Mother's childhood, living off of cheetums (fry bread) during lean times in rural Maine.
Remembering all of that, I take a look at my pantry full of food, my house full of heat, and my belly full of baby, and my lot doesn't seem so bad. In fact, it seems pretty damn lucky.
Scott and I have been through our share of lean times too. There were years that we scraped by from the generosity of community food pantries, and free medical clinics. Those years were a harrowing parade of overdrawn checking accounts, cars that could never seem to keep running, and paychecks that just couldn't make ends meet.
We can't be sure that those days are gone forever, but I'm awfully grateful to be in a better place for the time being. Between growing up more than a little, moving to a city that we could more easily afford, and finding happiness in our hearts instead of shopping malls, we've managed to carve out a life that is downright cushy. I'm thankful to have more than I need, and the occasional wisdom to notice.
P.S. This post is part of my 30 Days With a Grateful Heart series. You can check out the rest of my posts in this series on Mary Makes Pretty, Mary Makes Babies, and here on Mary Makes Dinner. Visit Bless Her Heart to check out other bloggers that are participating in the project.